Cheweyhead

Deciding whether to make one of these part of our trip to Namibia. Might be out of the way, cause we are not going to Etosha. We love love love cheetahs and leopards.

Thanks for your help.

Keri

Treepol

Keri,

I have visited both and stayed at Okonjima. This was in 2005 and I gather there have been some changes at Okonjima since I was there and that Karla and Dave have left.

The accommodation at the Bush Camp was very nice and the affiliation with Africat provided insight into cheetah rehabilitation. We saw lots of cheetah at the clinic, there were at least a dozen in a special enclosure that were fed daily because they couldn't fend for themselves and we also did some tracking to see how a group of 4 recently released cheetahs were going in the 'wild.' There were also 3 rescued lions that were fed each morning.

At CCF we saw cheetah feeding and running and one of the sheepdogs they breed there and give to farmers to keep stock safe from big cats.

Have you thought about the Ann Van Dyk Cheetah sanctuary at De Wildt near JNB, http://www.dewildt.co.za/ Thats a good place to stay for a night, see the cheetah running and then go for the game drive - they have king cheetah, wild dogs and brown hyena.

I don't know how much variety CCF offer and what other wildlife they have on their ranch, but I was very happy with what I saw at Okonjima.

Cheers,


Pol

kimburu

If you are really keen on cheetahs it would be strange not to go to one or the other while you are in Namibia, I think. The main road up to both is good tar.

They are rehabilitation facilities/orphanages and so what you see is unusual and you won't see it elsewhere, even though it is not like seeing cheetahs in the wild. I would definitely go to Okonjima if I was interested in cheetahs. It's a very nice place and there are more than just cheetahs too - a large area is now a private reserve. If it weren't so expensive, Bush Camp would be a lovely place to stay for itself, even if there weren't cheetahs around. The cheetahs and the cause help justify the price. But I was there in 2007 and so I'm almost as out-of-date as treepol!

I didn't go to CCF.

De Wildt is very much an "animal park" experience, with a twist or three, and very timed. Nothing wrong with that for most people, and they probably have the best cheetah merchandise shop in the world! It's also the easiest of the three to do as a day trip (assuming you have to be in Johannesburg anyway). I was there earlier this year.